1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus such as a printer, a scanner, or a personal computer. More particularly, the invention relates to a network system connecting a plurality of electronic apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, so-called network printer systems have been wide spread, in which plural printers are connected to a host computer and each printer is controlled by the host computer.
In the above-mentioned network printer system, a plurality of printers different in model are connected to the host computer, and operation conditions such as print density and the like are set independently for each model. Therefore, when sending and receiving data between the host computer and each of the printers, the host computer first sends an inquiry to inquire the model of the printer to which the host computer will send the data. When the host computer receives the model information from the printer, the host computer sends to the printer data for setting the operation conditions that correspond to the model of the printer.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 08-328777 proposes retrieving model information of a printer on a network and uploading unregistered model setting information from a printer, thereby automating a process of registering the model information and the model setting information of each printer into a host computer. Accordingly, printer drivers retained in the host computer can accurately transfer appropriate printing information to each of the printer.
However, even in the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 08-328777, the data to be set must be sent to a printer of a relevant model. This causes a problem such that if the data is not sent to the printer of the correct model and is mistakenly sent to the printer of another model, data which does not correspond to the model will be set for the printer of the other model, causing an erroneous operation.